Giuseppe Maretto (Milano 1908– 1984)

Giuseppe Maretto (Milan 1908–1984) was an Italian sculptor, painter, enameler, and medalist active mainly in Milan in the first half of the twentieth century. 2 Enamel plaques on copper (ALSO SOLD SEPARATELY) Dimensions: 1) 14x11 Plaque – 32x26.5cm Frame (musenshippo technique) 2) 16x11 Plaque – 32x26.5cm Frame (musenshippo TECHNIQUE) Biography He exhibited at a very young age at the V Milan Triennale in 1933 with three sculptures: a panel for the IV station of the Via Crucis and the bas-relief Moses Drawing Water from the Rock in the Pavilion of the exhibition of sacred art; in the Housing Exhibition pavilion. From 1937-1939 the two twin monumental statues placed on the building designed by Lancia opposite Palazzo Mezzanotte in Piazza degli Affari in Milan. From 1932 the fountain with the statue of Saint Anthony of Padua preaching to the fish, placed in front of the sanctuary of Saint Anthony of Padua in via Farini, also in Milan, damaged, probably by vandals, on September 18, 2020. Also his is the monumental fountain with a sculpture depicting a "river god" around whose limbs a snake twists, which adorns the courtyard of the famous Casa della Fontana (architects Rino Ferrini and Franco Bruni, 1934-1936) in viale Vittorio Veneto 24. For the church of Sant'Elena di Quarto Cagnino he sculpted The Invention of the Cross; for the Milan cathedral the statue of Santa Lucia; for the church of San Gioachimo a copper Via Crucis. Maretto also had an intense activity as an enameler and medalist. Maretto's Enamels or Art of Fire. The art of enamel is not a simple decorative vitreous coating of metal surfaces but the result of technical procedures that give it a more seductive appearance with the splendid intensity of colors and the infinite variety of the most delicate tones and shades. Enamels are a vitreous substance composed of silicates, soda, potassium, lead, and the colors are given by the various mixed metal oxides. Maretto used two techniques for making enamels. Champlevé enamels are obtained by carving the cells in the metal outlined according to the design and the cells are filled with enamel and subjecting the metal to the heat of the oven (approx. 900°) thus causing the fusion of the enamel powder which turns into vitreous paste assuming its definitive colors. This technique flourished in Europe and especially in France in the XII, XIII, XIV century. Musenshippo enamels of Japanese origin are made with a simpler technique. The raw enamels are placed in contact with overlapping on the surface of the metal plate, placed side by side with a brush and spatula, thus forming with the combinations the image to be reproduced, and subjecting them to fusion so that they merge, blending together creating effects of evanescent contours.